With the 2025 WNBA season set to begin on Friday, the Los Angeles Sparks were one of the last teams still needing to make roster cuts to get down to either 11 or 12 players. The Sparks made a pair of cuts on Wednesday, leaving one more move to go before the league’s roster deadline. The Sparks ended up finalizing their roster with the decision to cut rookie guard Shaneice Swain, the team announced on Thursday afternoon.

With the move to cut Shaneice Swain, the Sparks opening-day roster now stands at 11 players. Swain joined the team this offseason after originally being selected by the Sparks with No. 14 overall pick in the 2023 WNBA Draft.

Coming into training camp, the Sparks had quite a few guards on the roster, making it a little bit of an uphill climb for Swain to make it to the start of the regular season. The team’s biggest offseason move was to bring in an All-Star point guard in Kelsey Plum. They also re-signed veteran Odyssey Sims, and brought over Julie Allemand who spent the entire 2024 season rehabbing from a knee injury.

During the Sparks’ 83-82 preseason win against the Golden State Valkyries, Swain finished with only one rebound and one steal in four minutes off the bench. She missed the only shot she took, a three-pointer in the fourth quarter.

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The past couple of seasons, Swain had been playing professionally in her native Australia in the WNBL, while the Sparks still held her draft rights. On Sparks media day earlier this week, Swain spoke about the challenges that came with making the transition to the WNBA.

“I think the adjustment has been pretty tough, because I came from Australia and I came from a team where I was one of the number one players,” Swain said. “Then I come here and I’m a rookie. So I think the adjustment is a good challenge for me and I like it, but I’ve had moments where it’s been pretty difficult.”

Swain kind of got caught in a numbers game, with a limited amount of roster spots and veteran players ahead of her on the depth chart. Nevertheless, she’s a good playmaker who has improved her offensive game overseas to where she’s a slashing threat and a capable shooter from deep. It wouldn’t be surprising to see her back on a WNBA roster sometime in the future.

The Sparks will officially tip off the 2025 season on the road on Friday against the Valkyries.